Riverkeeper opposes Chalk River waste storage site

Ottawa Riverkeeper Meredith Brown has joined the voices opposing a low-level radioactive-waste storage site at Chalk River.

On Wednesday, she submitted an analysis to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission that says: “there is already significant groundwater contamination at the site and the (environmental impact statement) clearly states that contaminated leachate will be released into the nearby surface water that is directly connected to the Ottawa River.”

The analysis was prepared by a consultant for Riverkeeper and the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation Tribal Council.

The waste has been in temporary storage at Chalk River since the mid-1900s, and now Canadian Nuclear Laboratories wants to bury it in a mound similar to a city garbage dump.

The “near surface disposal facility” would operate from 2020 until about 2070. It would be a mound 18 metres high, covering 16 hectares and designed to last 500 years.

It would contain as much as one million cubic metres of mostly low-level radioactive waste, such as building rubble from the planned demolition of obsolete buildings, some soil, and used protective clothing, mopheads and air filters. But about one per cent of the total could be mediumlevel waste.

The site would be between one and two kilometres from the river, near the boundary where Chalk River meets Garrison Petawawa. The design calls for a watertight “cap” on top and liners to prevent water from washing through the waste into the ground. Water leaching out would be treated.

Riverkeeper’s full document is online.

Bloc Québécois Leader Martine Ouellet took a three-day tour of the region last week meeting municipal leaders, residents and cottagers on both sides of the Ottawa River.

These included Pembroke, Gatineau and Fort William.

She opposes the waste plan, saying it could contaminate the river.

Quebec Environment Minister David Heurtel has also written a letter expressing “great misgivings” about the contamination risk.

However, the City of Ottawa and Ottawa Public Health have submitted documents in support of the proposal.